In the field of active safety of a motor vehicle, contemporary driver assistance systems are already able to perform driving tasks of the driver of a motor vehicle and to carry out partially automated or partially autonomous driving functions. This is manifest in the examples of adaptive cruise control or lane assist or heading control.
Illustrative embodiments provide a method and a device, wherein a vehicle traveling at high speed is transferred into a driving state with a reduced risk of the consequences of a collision when it is assumed that the driver is experiencing an emergency. In this context, the intention is to avoid as far as possible misuse of the emergency system by the driver.